سانها را شندور
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THE COMMONWEALTH
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Membership and seems to convey no suggestion that the Members alone constitute the Commonwealth. Reference to countries which are not independent would have been irrelevant.
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66
(2) The second example is the declaration of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in April 1949, relating to the status of India." This declaration, which was made by the then Members of the Common- wealth, uses the words the other Governments of the Com- monwealth" and 'the Governments of the other countries of the Commonwealth" and they clearly refer only to the parties to the declaration other than India. There may, therefore, be an implication that the countries and Governments of the Commonwealth are only the independent countries and their Governments. The implication is not, however, strong. Since in the context there is no doubt that
the other countries " and "the other Governments'
are the countries and Governments (other than India) who were parties to the declaration, it is at least reasonable to interpret the document as if those words were qualified by a phrase such as "by whom this declaration is made."
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(3) The third example is "British Commonwealth and Empire," but from the legal point of view that is a most unfortunate term without adequate authority or usefulness.35
(4) Other examples which could be given are the Visiting Forces (British Commonwealth) Act, 1933, and the definitions of "Com- monwealth force" in the Army Act, 1955, and the Air Force Act, 1955, all of which relate only to visiting forces of independent Commonwealth countries; but they do not imply that forces of dependent countries are not Commonwealth forces for more general
purposes.
(5) There must be numerous occasions upon which reference has been made to the Commonwealth with no mention of dependent territories, merely because they were not directly concerned; but that does not mean that they are not parts of the Commonwealth,'any more than a document dealing, say, with local government in England, which mentioned only County Councils and Borough Councils would - imply that District Councils were not local government authorities.
(6) In short, with the questionable exception of the declaration of 1949 relating to India, there does not appear to exist any official legal instrument or formal document containing an implication that "the Commonwealth" does not contain (or has not contained since
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34 See p. 91 for the text.
33 See comments thereon, infra.
38 23 & 24 G. 5, c. 6.
37 (3 & 4 El. 2, c. 18), s. 225 (1) and (3 & 4 El. 2, c. 19), s. 223 (1). See also
Commonwealth Country," infra.
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